Ruprecht Prusseit had cobbled together a squad of freebies and loanees in the summer of 2030 but somehow put together a team potentially capable of mounting a 3. Liga title challenge. Indeed, his Energie Cottbus sat top of 3. Liga heading into 2031.
That early season success prompted the Cottbus board to offer Prusseit a new contract, which he gladly accepted to stay at the club until the end of the 2031/32 season. Not only that, they also agreed to fund Prusseit’s final coaching course, the Continental Pro Licence.
Prusseit’s squad was looking threadbare as several backup players requested to leave on loan. So he tapped back into his new senior affiliate partnership with RB Leipzig to loan in centre-back Gino Mauckner, holding midfielder Daniel Schmidt and 5ft 6in striker Korbinian Austermann for free.
Key Injury Threatens Cottbus’ Progress
Cottbus began 2031 well as Arnel Kujovic scored twice to nick a 2-1 win at Freiburg then got injured. The midfielder only scored three times all of last season but has already trebled that figure, which has seen him force his way into the Montenegro team. Without him, the goalscoring responsibility fell to the front two and they didn’t disappoint as Tiago Sousa bagged a hat-trick inside half an hour, which moved him to 20 goals for the season, and Eric Hottmann added two in a 5-2 thumping of Frankfurt II.
However, their plans were hit hard as star man Sousa, who won player of the month in December and January, suffered a torn hamstring in training, which would rule him out for a few months. And his absence was felt massively as Cottbus fell to a 3-0 defeat at Stuttgart II then drew 1-1 at home to Duisburg.
Luckily, Ingolstadt hadn’t taken advantage of those slip-ups and the top two went head-to-head next in Bavaria. The hosts started the game better but Cottbus nicked the opener courtesy of Leipzig loanee Phil Meyer slamming home just before the break. They defended superbly and looked to be nicking all three points only for Ingolstadt to equalise from a corner in the last minute.
Another tough game followed as Cottbus hosted Jahn Regensburg, who were gradually closing on the top two. But Cottbus put them in their place through two unlikely sources as midfielder Kimmo Eskelinen and utility man Onur Kurtulus scored their first goals for the club in a narrow 2-1 victory. Ingolstadt lost at Nürnberg II to four games without a win, which saw Cottbus open up a five-point gap at the top. A tricky challenge was overcome as Austermann’s first senior goal edged a 1-0 win at home to Nürnberg II before a slightly unlucky 3-2 loss at Eintracht Braunschweig.
10 Games From A Dream Promotion
That left Cottbus still top of 3. Liga with 10 games remaining, and still with a five-point lead over Monchengladbach II, Bayern II and Jahn Regensburg with Ingolstadt a further three points back.
They began the run-in at home to Hoffenheim and got off to a flyer as Meyer scored inside 30 seconds and a strong defensive effort held the visitors off before Hottmann’s double sealed a 3-0 win. But they continued their inability to beat Dortmund II as, despite 15 shots to four, they came away with a 0-0 away draw. They also dominated Hertha II by 22 shots to three and looked to be heading for the same result but substitute Kortulus rescued them with an 85th-minute winner.
A trip to Aalen seemed an easier proposition, but the home team were excellent, bossed the game by 20 shots to 14 and took an early lead. But Hottmann’s strike earned Cottbus a hard-fought point and, luckily, none of their rivals won so their lead was only cut to four points.
Top scorer Tiago Sousa, who was also still the league’s top scorer, returned after nearly three months out with a torn hamstring as relegation-threatened Stuttgart Kickers came to town. And the striker claimed an assist on his comeback, creating the second of midfielder Dennis Carsten’s brace, which trebled his league tally for the season, in a 2-0 victory.
A huge game followed as a potential title decider took them to 2nd-place Mönchengladbach. Cottbus got a horrible start and the hosts made them pay with two goals. Prusseit switched to a 4-2-3-1 and that at least got Sousa his goal only for Mönchengladbach’s striker with 8 finishing and 9 composure to complete his hat-trick.
Another Local Cup Final
Amid the league excitement, Cottbus had also reached their third-successive Verbandspokal Brandenburg Final. Prusseit used a fully rotated 11 throughout the competition and they eased past several lower-tier sides to face fifth-tier Fürstenwalde in the Final.
Annoyingly, the under-19s had a game the same day, but Prusseit stuck with his rotated side and only named three subs to rest players for vital league games. The minnows looked to be set for a shock win as they scored after an hour only for Busche to equalise in the last minute. That took it to injury time and Cottbus finally made their quality pay as Busche added another before holding midfielder Daniel Yéo sealed a 3-1 win in the 115th minute.
Energie Cottbus won a 3rd-successive Verbandspokal Brandenburg and Prusseit’s 2nd!
Four Games From Glory
The defeat to Gladbach II cut Cottbus’ lead to just one point with four games remaining. However, Gladbach II and Bayern II can’t get promoted, so they effectively had a seven-point lead. And the good news was that Cottbus had a fairly easy run-in.
Game 1 – Zwickau (16th, home): Cottbus’ bid for glory began with the televised Friday evening weekend opener in an all-OstDeutsche clash with Zwickau. And they put in a confident display at their relegation-threatened rivals as Carstens and Sousa made it 2-0 before half-time then left-back Jeremias Koblowsky and Kurtulus wrapped up a 4-0 victory. Later that weekend, Gladbach II drew at Nünberg II, which extended the lead to three points, and Jahn Regensburg won but Ingolstadt drew, so Cottbus just needed one point to secure promotion.
Game 2 – Rot Weiß Ahlen (17th, away): Another relegation risk was up next and Cottbus started well without finishing their chances. Predictably, Ahlen were given a ridiculous penalty just before half-time but Rezart Zeqiri saved it to go in 0-0 at the break. Sousa won a penalty after the break, which Carstens tucked home, but a terrible clearance by Zeqiri gifted Ahlen an undeserved equaliser.
But despite dropping points, Energie Cottbus were promoted to 2. Bundesliga!
Game 3 – Hansa Rostock II (18th, home): The next task was to try and win 3. Liga and their first chance to potentially do that came at home to Prusseit’s former club and already-relegated Hansa Rostock II. A terrible first half came to life as a great team move was rounded off by Sousa crossing for Kujovic to tap home. They looked to be cruising but out of nowhere Prusseit’s former striker Alexander Schumacher scored from basically Rostock II’s only attack. Prusseit threw the players forward and got his result as Kujovic doubled his tally. Elsewhere, Bayern II drew 0-0 at Ingolstadt, prompting a mad pitch invasion as the Cottbus fans fled onto the field to celebrate with their heroes.
Energie Cottbus were 3. Liga Champions!!
Despite the beautiful poetic nature of Prusseit lifting the trophy against his former club, it did rob 3. Liga fans of an epic final day title showdown as Cottbus visited Bayern II. But Cottbus signed off in style as Sousa and Kujovic strikes earned a 2-1 win.
That saw Cottbus win the title pretty comfortably, finishing seven points clear of Bayern II and 10 clear of the nearest actual promotion challengers Jahn Regensburg. Only Bayern II scored more than their 73 goals and they had the joint-best defence with just 35 conceded.
Sousa was the league’s top scorer despite missing 12 games, scoring 23 in 26, and topped the average rating chart with 7.53. But surprisingly, he didn’t win player of the year. Hottmann got the most player of the match awards, with eight, and came third in player of the year, with some kid from Bayern winning it, and Zeqiri topped the clean sheets chart with 15, conceding just 28 in 33 games. Prusseit was honoured as the 3. Liga Manager of the Year, which was his first-ever award as a Football Manager!
Reflecting On An Unexpected Success
Prusseit certainly wasn’t expecting a promotion push way back in July when he didn’t have enough players for a matchday squad. But his team of cobbled-together freebies and loanees had worked miracles to step up to 3. Liga and win it.
The star man was undoubtedly Sousa, who scored 23 and got four assists in 29 games and flourished after moving to his natural striker position. His strike partner Hottmann also did well, scoring 18 and getting six assists in 39 games, and surprisingly won fans’ player of the year.
But a surprise hero was Kujovic, who massively stepped up with 15 goals and 11 assists in 38 games from midfield. Prior to this season, the Montenegro international had only scored nine goals in 268 appearances for the club! Carstens popped up with eight goals and six assists and Kurtulus scored six and got three assists despite only starting three games.
Prusseit was fairly sure this squad needed a pretty serious rebuild to survive in 2. Bundesliga but he was also really happy with life at Cottbus. So it would take a very good offer for him to leave and, realistically, he was now looking at the likes of Union Berlin and RB Leipzig as the only realistic next moves in his career.
Up in Bundesliga, Bayern maintained their dominance by winning a 19th successive title by 11 points from Leipzig. But Union’s luck finally ran out as they were relegated in 17th place. Two more OstDeutscher sides Magdeburg and Hansa Rostock remain in mid-table solidarity in 2. Bundesliga but Zwickau and Hansa Rostock II were relegated from 3. Liga. Dynamo Dresden had a chance to replace them as they reached the Regionalliga playoff and did so, defeating Werder II on away goals. Down in tier six, Dessau were back in Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt after a year in non-league and survived in 17th place.
Could Prusseit build a squad capable of competing in 2. Bundesliga with very limited finances? Join us on Friday to find out!
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